I am delighted to announce the online opening of the Virtual U.S. Embassy Tehran as a new and exciting engagement opportunity between the peoples of Iran and the United States.

Because the United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations, we have been deprived of opportunities for dialogue with the citizens of Iran. But, using new technologies like this website and our linked social networking sites, we hope to bridge that gap and promote greater understanding.

As the Secretary noted in her welcome video posted to the site, “This is a platform for us to communicate with each other—openly and without fear—about the United States, about our policies, our culture, and the American people.” We believe that outreach efforts like these are essential to bringing information and alternative viewpoints to the Iranian people, especially as the Iranian regime continues its efforts to control the flow of information to and from the Iranian people. This Virtual Embassy is just the first of many ways in which we will seek to challenge the Iranian regime’s efforts to place an electronic curtain of surveillance, satellite jamming and online filtering around its people, and I look forward to enhancing our communication efforts directly to the Iranian people.